This page describes how to use product names.
Capitalize product names
In general, Google product names are in title case, sometimes called init-capped, which means that every word is capitalized except for prepositions like of or on and articles like a or the. When you refer to a Google product, use title case except when you're matching a UI label. For information about how to refer to UI labels, see UI elements and interaction.
When you write about any product, follow the official capitalization for the names of brands, companies, software, products, services, features, and terms defined by companies and open source communities.
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For example, if you're using Kubernetes-related terms, then follow the capitalization that's shown in the Kubernetes Concepts documentation.
Recommended in a Kubernetes context: A Job creates one or more Pods.
Recommended: The Cloud Scheduler job publishes a message to a Pub/Sub topic at one-minute intervals.
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If an official name begins with a lowercase letter, then put it in lowercase even at the start of a sentence. But it's better to revise the sentence to avoid putting a lowercase word at the start, if possible.
Recommended: You can use macOS to run the app.
Not recommended: macOS can run the app.
Feature names
A feature is a distinctive attribute or capability of a product. Features are usually described in terms of what they can do as part of a product. In general, feature names are lowercase, although there are exceptions.
When you write about a feature don't capitalize it unless the name is officially capitalized. If you're unsure, follow the precedent that's set by other documents that describe the feature. And as with products, match the capitalization of a UI label if you're referring to one.
For more general information about capitalization, see Capitalization.
Shorten Google product names
When referring to a Google product, sometimes you might want to abbreviate the product name. For example, when you're referring to Google Spreadsheets, it can be awkward to refer to it as Google Spreadsheets every time; sometimes you might want to call it Spreadsheets.
Use the full trademarked product name. Don't abbreviate product names, except in cases where you're matching a UI label. In such cases, make it clear that you're referring to the Google product and not some other thing with a similar name.
If you use a product name as a modifier, pay close attention to which article precedes the product name. For example, consider Firebase Authentication (the long name) and Authentication (the short name). You would write a Firebase Authentication environment, but an Authentication environment.
Also consider whether you need to refer to a product name throughout a document, or if you can use a more general term. For example, if you've established that you're talking about Anthos Service Mesh, you can probably frame your discussion around the concept of a service mesh throughout much of the document.
Possessives of product names
For information about forming possessives with product names, see Product, feature, and company names.
Use "the" with product names
Don't use the before a product name unless you're using the name to qualify something else. Do use the before tool and API names.
Recommended: Using Cloud Datastore with Cloud Dataproc
Recommended: The Cloud Datastore options page
Recommended: The Google Cloud console
Recommended: The Transcoder API
Recommended: The gcloud CLI
Not recommended: Using the Cloud Datastore with Cloud Dataproc
Use "service" to refer to multiple products
It's OK to refer to Google products as services, such as the Google Kubernetes Engine service or the Compute Engine service. However, if the term services leads to ambiguity, use the product names.
Don't use product names as verbs
Don't use product names or feature names as verbs.